I was wondering what you can tell me about Billy Graham, I have
noticed that commentators in all segments of the media tend to treat him
with kid gloves, even the religious satire magazine lists him as the only
televangilist they have not done an exposé on. I have not even found much
said about him on atheist web-sites (such as psycho Dave's) who do not
hesitate to go after religious figures. To me, Billy Graham seems much the
same as any other evangelist, so why the special treatment? What is your
opinion of Billy Graham? And why do you think people are reluctant to take
him on?

Graham, unlike many televangelists, has kept his house in order, violating
neither legal statute nor moral precept. He may be a preacher, but he is,
in all other respects, a good man.

The big criticism of him lies in the fact that he has acted as advisor
to so many U.S. Presidents. As apolitical as his public messages have been
(he is no Pat Robertson; he is no Jerry Falwell), he is probably the most
political of all the influential preachers throughout American history.

Graham, as seen from the public eye (sermons; television; newspaper columns)
has stuck to doing his job. We have never seen him (overtly) lobbying to
change the laws of this country (though God doesn't even know what went
on behind the closed doors of the Oval Office).

I will say that Graham was, at one time, probably the most brilliant salesman that Madison Avenue has ever seen. He took his skills and applied them to the "profession" of selling religion. I cannot tell you which upsets me more, the fact that he surreptitiously influences government at the highest levels or the fact that he has brought Madison Avenue to the business of evangelism. However, his sales skills probably account for a large aspect of his benign image in the eye of the public -- and even those who would otherwise be his critics.